South Asian and Diaspora Arts and Literature in Chicago | September 25 – 28, 2014 | University of Illinois, Chicago | 750 S. Halsted St.

Kriti Festival Schedule!

Wednesday, September 24th (pre-festival event):

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Guild Complex reading, “I Come to Your Country, Name Me,” a creative exploration of expatriation and migration in the Asian diaspora, co-sponsored by the Kriti Festival. Rachel DeWoskin will read from her life as the megastar of a Chinese soap opera in Beijing, then read from her new book based in Shanghai. Mary Anne Mohanraj, in her memoir, discusses bisexuality, taboos and going home to a discontented Sri Lanka which is no longer home. Deepak’s writing is grounded in Abu Dhabi where he grew up as the son of Indian expatriates, but home has been America for more than a decade. All three readers live and work in Chicago. Curated by Dipika Mukherjee. School of the Art Institute, LeRoy Neiman Center, 37 S. Wabash Ave., 1st floor, Chicago, IL. This event is free and open to the public.

No experience necessary! Come try some fun writing exercises with the guidance of our visiting writers; unlock your creativity! Please arrive on time – we will start promptly.

(Phiroozeh Romer)

Readings

Swati Khurana, Shikha Malaviya

Film Screenings

“The Queen of My Dreams,” by Fawzia Mirza (3 min)

“Yes I Am (American),” music video by Malini D. Sur (6 min)

“Coin Toss,” by Satya Kharkar (97 min)

Friday 11:00 – 11:50

Contemporary South Asian Literature in the World

How does South Asian writing shape the way in which South Asians are regarded by the world? Does it facilitate the stereotyping of individuals? Does it open up new concepts to readers? How are local South Asian and diaspora writers perceived by international (especially Western) readers? (Sonali Dev, Preston Merchant, Rajdeep Paulus)

Poetry Workshop

No experience necessary! Come try some fun writing exercises with the guidance of our visiting writers; unlock your creativity! Please arrive on time – we will start promptly.

(Shikha Malaviya)

Readings

Parul Kaushik, Mina Khan

Friday 12 – 12:50

Paths to Publication (brown bag lunch)

What are today’s alternatives to “traditional” publishing, and how do you decide if one of them is good fit for you? The publishing industry has undergone, and continues to undergo, massive and rapid change. The array of publishing options now runs the gamut from traditional publishing to self-publishing, each with its own characteristics. What is happening in the middle of the spectrum? How is a writer to decide what path to follow? What are the relative pros and cons, and what are the questions to ask oneself in order to ensure a positive publishing experience? This panel will address small press publishing, self-publishing, crowdfunding, social media, and more. As it occurs over lunchtime, please feel free to bring a brown bag lunch. (Anjali Mitter Duva, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Rajdeep Paulus)

Nura Maznavi @ AARCC (brown bag lunch)

Academic Papers (20 min each)

From Page to Screen: Chetan Bhagat, Three Idiots and New Cultural Authorship in India: [Ask Dina for short description] (Dina Khdair, De Paul University)

What are the advantages and disadvantages of enrolling in an graduate program in writing? What about full-time vs. part time? How about low-residency programs (where you work from home and only go away for two weeks of the year)? What will I learn, and where should I go? Or will it just be a waste of time I should spend writing? Panelists who have been there talk about MFA and Ph.D. programs they have known. (Parul Kaushik, Ankur Thakkar, Shailen Mishra, Soniah Kamal, Swati Khurana)

Pretending We’re All Middle Class

Authors like Hanif Kurieshi and Monica Ali deal with middle class and working class English life from an immigrant perspective, while Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters live in a financially comfortable, destined-for-the-professional world. How visible are class issues in South Asian literature? Are comfortable middle-class stories more likely to be published (and celebrated)? Do immigrant upper-middle class readers become uncomfortable when asked to admit the existence of working-class South Asians? (Samina Hadi-Tabassum, Preston Merchant, Deepak Unnikrishnan)

Academic Papers (20 min each)

South Asian Diasporic Fiction: Project of Empire and Consolidation of the American Nation-State (Roksana Badruddoja, Manhattan College)

How to Translate an Indian Novel in Seven Easy Steps: A practical talk for writers who translate or don’t or would like to, we’ll discuss the craft and stakes of literary translation, particularly in the context of South Asian literature translated into English. Who is allowed to translate? How do you find an author and then publish? Is your audience in India, the US, or elsewhere—and do you have to choose? What effects might your choice of audience have on your choice of English idiom and how you translate?

To what extent are we willing to expose ourselves? Do we have the right to expose the lives of our family and friends? Is the need to tell a true story, to be honest, more important than the need to consider the feelings of others? And what happens when you’re not sure you’re remembering the story right to begin with? How much freedom do you have to change the details and still call it nonfiction? Writers discuss the challenges of writing different types of nonfiction.

There is a clear market in the West for a certain kind of expose/pathos story from South Asia: child prostitutes, wife beating, widows in Brindhavan, untouchables, street kids, etc. When does exposing an evil move over into exploitation? What responsibilities does the writer have (if any)?

No experience necessary! Come try some fun writing exercises with the guidance of our visiting writers; unlock your creativity! Please arrive on time – we will start promptly.

(Shailen Mishra, Sonali Dev)

Write a Ghazal Poetry Workshop

No experience necessary! Come try some fun writing exercises with the guidance of our visiting writers; unlock your creativity! Please arrive on time – we will start promptly.

(Ashini J. Desai)

Q&A with Literary Agent Anna Ghosh

Ghosh answers every question you’ve ever had about literary agents — or as many as she can fit into an hour. An informal discussion with Anna Ghosh

Saturday 10 – 10:50

Queer Issues in South Asian Literature

Authors and readers consider the role of GLBT characters and queer issues in South Asian literature, and discuss these stories’ reception in the South Asian community. Do we need an explicitly queer space? What opportunities are there for publication / presentation? Is there danger of being typecast? Has queerness become more acceptable now? (Manil Suri, Fawzia Mirza, Mary Anne Mohanraj)

Blowing Your Own Horn: Marketing Yourself as a Writer

With so many new writers emerging, it can be difficult setting yourself apart from the crowd. Writers discuss various methods for marketing themselves and their work, from setting up a web page to hiring publicists and beyond. (Anjali Mitter Duva, Ankur Thakkar, Gotham Mamik)

Bombay Jam (dance class)

Give your body and spirit a treat Bollywood ish-tyle. In this easy-to-follow dance session, you will learn some very basic (and highly filmi) moves then rock out to new favorites, old hits, as well as east-west fusion tracks (you don’t want tof miss Lady Gaga bhangra-style). (Phiroozeh Romer)

Readings

Samina Hadi-Tabassum / Nura Maznavi

Saturday 11:00 – 11:50

Crossing Genre Boundaries

We’ve all seen the epic South Asian family novel, a tale of marriage and politics and history and social conflict. What other kinds of S. Asian fiction is out there? Who are our science fiction and fantasy writers, our mystery, spy novel, romance, and political thriller authors? Writers discuss the challenges of breaking out of the ‘literary’ ghetto as an ethnic writer, and recommend favorite work in other genres. (Vidhu Aggarwal, Sonali Dev, Phiroozeh Romer, Mina Khan)

Arts and crafts, face painting, creative writing for children, and story reading! Note: Children 7 and over may be dropped off (with signed waiver and contact info); younger children must have an adult accompanying

2:00 – face painting / writing class

2:30 – face painting / coloring / craft project

3:00 – face painting / story-reading

3:30 – coloring / craft project

Saturday 2:00 – 2:50 p.m.

Desi Romance Literature

Possible areas we’ll explore include the romantic tradition of Bollywood, the romance genre and family dynamics, the feminism of the Romance genre (stories by women of women for women), Happily Ever Afters and genre structure, interracial romance, sex, sensuality, taboos as conflict, historical romance…

(Sonali Dev, Nura Maznavi, Mina Khan)

Q&A with Literary Agent Anna Ghosh

Ghosh answers every question you’ve ever had about literary agents — or as many as she can fit into an hour. An informal discussion with Anna Ghosh

Readings

Rajdeep Paulus / Mary Anne Mohanraj / Ankur Thakkar

Saturday 3:00 – 3:50 p.m.

I Don’t Want to Be a Doctor (Lawyer/Engineer/Etc.) Anymore!

What do you do when you’ve succeeded in a S. Asian parent-approved career, and realize what you really want to do is be a writer? Can you do a 180-career-wise? Are there ways to incorporate the arts into a busy work/family life? Those who have done it tell their tales!

Singh answers every question you’ve ever had about book editors and publishers — or as many as she can fit into an hour. An informal discussion with Anjali Singh

Writing Culturally-Specific Stories: The AuthenticityDebate

What do you say if someone says to you, “You don’t even live in South Asia — what makes you think you’re authentic enough to be telling this story? You don’t know us!” When you write about a culture, do you feel a responsibility to accurately represent the community? What are your concerns? What do you do to help you in that process? (Shikha Malaviya, Phiroozeh Romer, Samina Hadi-Tabassum, Tanaz Bhathena, Nayomi Munaweera)

Writers who have recently (or not-so-recently) sold their first book tell us how they did it, and what they learned in the process. Learn what to do, what not to do — and hear about a few great new books to watch out for! (Dipika Mukherjee, Sonali Dev, Sita Bhaskar, Soniah Kamal, Nayomi Munaweera)

Evolution of South Asian Music in the United States

This panel would include those who have knowledge or expertise in the history of South Asian music’s journey to and within the U.S. as well as those who are currently engaged in performing and promoting South Asian classical or fusion music in the U.S. Together these perspectives will speak to how South Asian music’s journey has impacted the U.S. musical landscape and how this journey, in turn, has impacted the evolution of South Asian music. (Sutikshna Veeravalli, Nita Chawla, Kavita Das, Malini D. Sur, Tara Swaminathan, Arvind Venugopal)

Reading

Ashini J. Desai, Meeta Kaur

Saturday 6:00 – 6:50 p.m.

Politics and Writing: A Panel and Open Discussion

Writers discuss their goals in writing about politics. (Is any writing not political?) Are they attempting to create change in the world? What changes would they like to see? What have been the visible effects of their work, if any? Should writers be political on a large-scale? What are the inherent dangers of that work? A facilitated open discussion of the ways in which writers engage political issues in their work, and the ways readers respond. (Dipika Mukherjee, Kavita Das, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Divya Rajan, Mary Anne Mohanraj)

Adapting Artistic Traditions

Many people observe traditions or cultural activities just for the sake of not losing touch with their heritage. As a result, they don’t know the depth or history of it. Does that actually keep up the culture or dilute/skew it with a half-understood form of art? In terms of how we come across to people outside South Asian culture, are we helping propagate stereotypes of ourselves by presenting art forms that most American South Asians themselves only understand superficially? Most people assume that when one says, “I pursue classical, Indian dance”, it mean Bollywood as in Slumdog Millionare. Are classical arts becoming “westernized” but put under the name of classical just to sound ethnically diverse? (Sutikshna Veeravalli, Madhavi Reddi, Riti Sachdeva)

YA / Kids’ Writing

Can we write books for children and teens that move beyond saris and mangoes? Writers discuss how we can write for children of South Asian heritage in the West, exposing them to characters who are like them, but without the clichés. (Ashini J. Desai, Rajdeep Paulus)

Saturday 7:00 – 7:50 p.m.

Theatre and Dance Performances

Bharatanatyam performance by Mahdavi Reddi

followed by

Brooklyn Bound: a ten-minute play by Riti Sachdeva, directed by Danielle Fleming, performed by Manish Shah, Martel Manning, and Riti Sachdeva

Sex and the Word

In recent years, more and more South Asians have started writing explicitly around sexuality. Mary Anne Mohanraj, Ginu Kamani, the authors in Desilicious, the participants in Yoni ki Baat, and many performance poets all explore the sexual arena. What are the challenges of working with this material? What are the rewards? Are you willing to read an erotic story? How about in public, on a bus or train? Do you take the books off the shelves when your parents visit? Authors and readers discuss the pleasures and problems of writing and reading sex. (Sonali Dev, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Rajdeep Paulus, Mina Khan, Soniah Kamal)